We can LEVERAGE Brexit! THIS tech will solve Brexit border disruption, Eurotunnel claims

EUROTUNNEL executive John Keefe suggested Britain could "leverage Brexit" to develop new technologies making travelling "even smoother" as he reassured leaving the bloc will not create issues to British holidaymakers heading to Europe.

Eurotunnel Public Affairs chief John Keefe said the company does not expect Brexit to affect travelling because they are "ahead of the game" when it comes to passport and border checks.

Mr Keefe said Eurotunnel already has strict checks on all passengers heading and returning from the European Union, saying he expects a new system to be adopted after Brexit that could make travelling "even smoother."

He told Express.co.uk: "We’ve started designing systems that will use biometrics, we’ll use special scans, eye recognition to identify people as they are approaching the border. It will give us sort of a heads up and an even quicker processing of people through the border.

"We think that’s one area where we can actually leverage Brexit to bring technology that’s been under development for a number of years into everyday use and we can actually make the experience even smoother for people."

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In 2017 nearly 10.5 million people used the Channel train to travel between the UK and France.

Mr Keefe also said the company is "on top" of border control because it already operates on 100 percent passport control on all travel to and from the EU.

He continued: "Immigration and border control for passenger movement is something that we feel we’re actually pretty much on top of because we have always had 100 percent passport controls coming into the UK.

"In 2015, the British Government introduced exit checks, we built a whole piece of infrastructure system, recruited people to check passport going into continental Europe as well."

Brexit news: Eurotunnel's John Keefe said he does not expect travel to be affected (Image: EXPRESS.CO.UK•GETTY)

We can actually make the experience even smoother for people

John Keefe

"We’re happy with that challenge, we believe we can overcome that quite quickly. In fact, we are already ahead of the game."

The news will be welcomed by Britons seeking to continue travelling to the continent once the UK leaves the bloc.

It comes as Government sources told the BBC Britain there have been "informal discussions and understandings reached with around 15 nations outside the EU" to ensure British airlines can operate once EU regulation expires in 2019.

UK air companies can currently offer services to anywhere they want to within the European Union because of the bloc’s common rules for aviation, also known as the European Common Aviation Area arrangements (ECAA).

Airlines have already begun to make changes to stay within EU rules on the continent and protect the aviation sector.

EasyJet announced plans to create a new subsidiary with EU headquarters at the cost of £10 million while fellow low-cost company Ryanair applied for a British aviation licence at the beginning of 2018.

Brexit news: Nearly 10.5 million people travelled between the UK and France via the Channel in 2017 (Image: EXPRESS.CO.UK)

In June 2018 the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) held talks with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to prepare an outline for the future – including plans for a no deal Brexit.

The CAA said: "Our planning includes a scenario in which the UK Government and CAA take all reasonable steps within their control to reduce disruption to the aviation industry, but the EU does not agree to a mutual recognition arrangement.

"The CAA encourages the aviation and aerospace industries, and individuals who rely on EU permissions to operate (to any extent), to consider what actions if any may be required on their part to enable them to continue to operate."

Reports from BuzzFeed news suggest the Government will be publishing a set of white papers to present its plans for a no deal Brexit for several British industries, including aviation.

A spokesman from the Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU) commented on the leaks, stating: “As we’ve already made clear, individual departments are preparing specific technical notices to help citizens, businesses and consumers to prepare for March 2019 in the unlikely event of a 'no-deal' scenario.

“This is part of our preparatory work that has been underway for the past two years.”